Boards

I'm confused: they use the umbilical to find the Looking Glass jamming station, but surely they could have just cut the umbilical to shut it of, given that must be supplying all the power and stuff, eh?

i think the flashbacks were brilliant in series 1 and 2 - such a good way of storytelling. Characters like Locke, Michael, Kate especially were made so much more identifiable / compelling to watch, rather than anything you could see in the main narrative, which might not really fit.

but i actually agree to an extent that by series 3 the flashbacks began to get a little needless and/or boring - like the jack one in phuket or whatever.

but, they realised this and used it as a device for the finale - they realised the audience's frustration and boredom of what seemed like another Jack flashback until the final shot, which made it amazing to watch back and consider... part of what made it SO good.

All of the series 4 flashbacks were great, and the flashforwards really useful. Because then they just needed to show what is necessary - Michael, Juliette, etc.

What I hate about the flashbacks is they are a cheap method to hit you over the head with motivations while at the same time preserving the (somewhat ludicrous) idea that these people don't trust anyone else and never speak to each other about their motivations.

The actors do a great job of conveying their character and I think it's important that someone knows the backstory to them but we don't need to have it drip fed over the course of one epsiod ending with a small amount of revelation but only a small amount.

The way they ring together, the ending of the flashback and the ending of the contemporary story in an episode, is a nice symmetry but ultimately it's all about slowing down an over all story at the expense of writing single episode tale that's got any weight.

Give me some examples of the flashbacks actually telling you something you needed to know? I think the characters are sympathetic as they are and in fact the flashbacks normally serve to make them less sympathetic and clearly less 'good' than you would think.

Oooh, a flash forwards but let's throw in the unanswered questions of why Kate's not in jail, Jack's father is alive again and who was dead...but we'll make sure we take about 30 minutes to tell you NOTHING AT ALL.